


My old life's come back to get me

by epicsakura101



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Aliens, Amnesia, F/M, Government Conspiracy, Government Experimentation, I don't hate you, Lets Take Over The World, learning to love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4978147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicsakura101/pseuds/epicsakura101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of a girl who's far more than she seems.<br/> <br/><em>My life has always been painfully normal. For as long as I could remember each day was exactly the same as the one before. One day, though I didn't realize it at the time, everything began change.</em></p><p>key:<br/>(f/n) = first name<br/>(l/n) = last name<br/>(h/c) = hair color<br/>(h/l) = hair length<br/>(e/c) = eye color<br/>(r/n) = robot name<br/>(f/c) = favorite color</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ms. Bitters is a decrepit old lady covered in wrinkles, with a white bun, black dress, glasses, and fingers like a demon's claws. Sitting in her class, listening to her drone on and on about how the world is doomed, I found my mind wandering to other things. As I looked out the window into the baby blue sky I wondered, what else is out there? My thoughts were broken as the door opened and I looked to the front of the classroom. A boy stood there. Normally that would be nothing of consequence, except that this particular male had green skin, no ears, and hair that belonged in the 60s.  
Ms. Bitters spoke, "This is Zim, the newest bag of useless appendages to join our class. If you have something to say, say it now, because afterwards I do not want to hear a single word out of you."  
Zim put on a very fake smile, pointed teeth showing, "I am a perfectly normal human worm-baby. Pay no attention to me and we'll get along just fine."  
As Zim finished speaking Dib began his usual rant about aliens and such. Dib is a total dweeb, thick glasses, stupid looking black hair, and a head far too big for his scrawny neck. Plus, he's the skool's resident crazy, always going on about paranormal crap. I tuned him out quite effectively, only looking up when I heard my name.  
"Zim, you will sit next to (f/n)." Ms. Bitters said, pointing to the desk next to mine. Once everything had settled down I decided I would return to my pondering. I looked over to the side when I felt eyes on me. Zim quickly turned his head away. I raised my eyebrow questioningly before I resumed my former position.

### *** Time Skip ***

The rest of the day dragged on as per the norm, that is, until lunch. The bell rang and all of the kids piled out the door in one massive horde. Within seconds the only people in the classroom were, Zim, Dib, and myself. 'Oooooh no,' I thought to myself, holding my temples between my middle finger and thumb. As to be expected, there was a confrontation.  
"And what, exactly, do you think you're doing here **alien**?" Dib said in an accusatory tone.  
"What?! I am no alien! How dare such a digsusting, smelly **human** accuse me, ZIM, of such a thing!" Zim responded, a very fake hurt tone in his voice, one which was soon overtaken by ego-driven pride.  
"I know what you are, ALIEN, and once I expose your true nature I'll.." Dib began.  
Zim grinned, cutting him off and saying, "They'll never believe you. None of those filthy dirt children will see through a disguise created by the great and mighty ZIIIIM!"  
I had always hoped aliens existed. Although I'm not _nearly_ as bad as Dib, I've always been attracted to the idea. They obviously had forgotten I was there, so I cleared my throat loudly as Dib was about to respond. "What was that just now about 'filthy dirt children?' hmm?" I said, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. The two boys gaped at me, as though I had materialized out of thin air.  
"W-what?" Dib stuttered, "when did you get here (f/n)?"  
"I've been standing here the whole time, dumb-ass." I replied, nonplussed. I stared past his glasses and deep into his eyes, saying, "Just because someone's different Dib doesn't give you an excuse to bully them." turning to the green boy gaping at me I said, "Oh, and by the way, I knew you were an alien as soon as you walked through that door Zim. So don't try to pull the ignorant act on me again." with that I walked out the door (h/l) (h/c) flipping slightly as I turned on my heel, leaving the two boys to their stare-down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post chapter 2 and see what people think, because why not. Again, let me know if you want more. Thanks! Hope you enjoy :)

Lunch started out normal, collecting my daily dose of the slop they call food at skool. My generally apathetic nature, developed over years of drudgery, pegged me as an outcast, someone to be avoided. The few times I emit an emotional response around people -especially at skool- is when I am very angry, or just need to be left alone. Tears are for home, and joy has been missing from my life for ages. Yet this pain has made me strong. The bullies have ceased their torment after an incident where I came within a hair's breadth of breaking one of their arms. The tears came less often as I floated through life. One of the few perks I get as an outsider, I have a table all to myself. I sat, nibbling on the disgusting mush they called mashed potatoes when something unexpected happened. A certain green-skinned boy plopped down at my table in the seat directly across from me.

"Greetings puny human. Feel honored for I, Zim, have deigned to be in your presence." he said, ego inflating to a state larger than his already over-sized head.

I looked at him, raising my eyebrow questioningly, "Just what do you want from me?" When he didn't answer immediately I began to get impatient, "Come on! I haven't got all day!" He mumbled something. "No good, can't hear you."

He appeared to grow irked by my words, suddenly blurting, "You intrigue me human! You are strong, unlike the other, feeble-minded pigs in this pile of filth. You defended me, the almighty ZIM, from the Dib-stink. I must know more."

I shrugged, returning to my so-called meal, "Sure, why not. Anything's more interesting than this." On the word _this_ I gestured at the area around us. As lunch progressed Zim barely touched his food, not really eating any of it. Dib approached with a devious grin plastered across his face. I didn't look up as he spoke.

"What's the matter Zim? Don't like the food? Or can you not eat it because you're an **alien**?" He laughed and I perked up slightly.

"Of course I, ZIM, eat food! I'm just another human worm-baby!"

At this I chuckled slightly to myself, almost amused. That was when Dib decided to push it a little too far. As they argued a bit more I grew increasingly tired of his drivel. When things began to get physical something inside me snapped. I stood. It was as if waves of pure fury radiated from my body. I wasn't about to let the first friend I've had in ages get bullied like I had, even if he wasn't _quite_ a friend yet. I walked slowly over to the dweeb and grabbed his collar. Everything went quiet and it was as if we were the only people in the world. Staring into his fear stricken eyes with my own frosty (e/c) ones, I spoke softly in a voice as cold as my eyes saying, "Leave us, now." With that I dropped him and he scurried away. I turned back to Zim who was looking wide-eyed at me, cracking a nearly imperceptible smile I said, "well, that was interesting."

The rest of the day proceeded as per the norm, yet I took some small comfort in the hope of a friend, or at least an ally of sorts. He said he wanted to study me, that I was intriguing. I found myself studying him as well, trying to figure him out. His ego was always larger than life, but that mattered little to me as I was fairly sure I could put him in his place if need be. Although we were at the Hi-Skool they gave us a break period similar to the recess elementary schoolers recieve. Zim arrived before I could get there and I was forced to intervene yet again.

"Leave me Dib-stink! Leave now or face the wrath of ZIM!"

Dib laughed, "Hah! You know what these are?" Zim looked at him questioningly. "They're alien knock out cuffs, they render any alien unconscious. I ordered them from my magazine."

Zim laughed at him, "How do you know they work if you've never met a real alien?"

"I'm about to find out." He started chasing Zim with the cuffs. _hah! Like those would ever really work!_ I thought to myself. I managed to tackle Dib before he noticed my presence. I wrestled the cuffs from his grasp, standing and holding them above his over-sized head.

"Hey! Give those back!" he said, annoyed by my actions.

"And if I don't?" I asked, holding them up a little higher as he jumped.

"Then I'll get you when I get Zim." he replied, sneering. 

After a moment of pretending to think about it I smirked and said, "You make a good point. Here, I'll cut you a deal." He blinked, then looked at me suspiciously, "... yesss?"

"If you want them, go and get them!" I turned, throwing it hard enough that it landed in the upper branches of a nearby tree. He stood there agape for a moment before running after them. I yelled after him, "and **don't** come back!" I turned to find Zim laughing maniacally at Dib's failed attempts to climb the tree.

Zim and I walked away, leaving Dib to try and retrieve his toy. We spoke, and learned. I think I may have learned more about him than he did about me. When he mentioned the name of his race it sounded somewhat familiar, but a sharp pain pricked my head and the subject changed from his past to my health. Although, near the end of the first week I caught him trying to scan me with a device he pulled out of his Pak and stopped him before it could finish.

*****magical time skip brought to you by the Doom song*****

The days that proceeded that one were much the same, but seemed lighter than the ones I had lived through before. One friday, 2 weeks after I'd met him, Skool finally came to a close as it began to rain. Walking out the doors I noticed Zim leaning against the wall, looking out nervously, completely defying his usual 'nothing can hurt the amazing ZIM' attitude.  


Looking over at him questioningly I asked, "Are you alright?"

He saw me and in response stuck his hand out into the rain, pulling it back swiftly with a wince as his hand sizzled. I nodded, understanding. This was the moment Dib decided to strike again. He shoved Zim into a puddle where the alien writhed in pain. I helped him up and handed him my open umbrella. Then, pulling up my hood I stalked over to the place Dib was standing.

"Why Dib, tell me, why did you find it necessary to commit such a cruel act of violence."

"Because **he** is the **enemy**! He's probably scheming about how to take over the world as we speak!" Dib said, exasperation clear in his tone.

"You know, I really don't care. I just want to go home. Goodbye." With that I turned on my heel and walked away, grabbing Zim's arm and dragging him with me.

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Saving me, the almighty ZIM, from the Dib-stink?"

I had to think about that for a moment, I didn't really know. I felt a connection to the strange green boy, a certain... potential that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I could hardly remember the last time I had felt a connection to anyone, even my parents. I really did not understand why I felt so familiar with this boy. A lance of pain shot through my head, causing me to wince and stumble, falling to one knee as I grabbed at my skull, trying to make the pain go away.

"Human? Are you alright?" Zim asked, crouching down next to me.

Nodding I returned to my feet, "I should be fine, that was strange though." I shook my head, sighing softly. "I really need to go home. You're welcome to follow, I just don't think I'll make it much farther than that." Really I just needed to spend time in my workshop, but I wasn't about to tell **him** that.

"Fine, I guess I, ZIM, will lower myself to step into your smelly human pig house, but ONLY until this liquid death stops falling." He said only slightly begrudgingly. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone who's reading this, given kudos, etc. Thank you. Because of that I decided to post chapter 3. Let me know if you want more and I will provide.

Upon arrival at my house I noticed that my parents had yet to return home from work. I punched in the code to unlock the door and ushered Zim inside. It was a quaint little house, two stories high and just large enough to fit myself, my parents, and my two siblings, but none of the others were ever home. The door opened to display a small cramped livingroom. The floor was scratched up hardwood covered with a mish-mash of different carpets. The walls had been badly covered with a dark urine yellow wallpaper. You could hardly see it on a few of them though, since they'd been covered in photos and paintings. The furniture was obviously a hand-me-down from multiple generations, but they were still comfortable. There was one of those huge box-like televisions on an entertainment center at the far end of the room and a fireplace along the left wall. The house couldn't have been more than 800 square feet, not including the upstairs. There was a door leading into a modest kitchen on the right, a small hallway on the same side leading to the bathroom and the office. One wall of that hallway was actually the side of the staircase leading to the upstairs where all the bedrooms were.

"Where are your parental units, human?" he asked curiously, looking around, taking in everything.

"Still at work, they're never home this early." I replied, closing the door behind me. "Feel free to make yourself at home, I just need to... take care of some things." I said, trying to sound nonchalant as I all but fled through the secret door into the comforting atmosphere of my workshop. 

I've always had an affinity for technology. I knew it wasn't normal and feared what would happen if anyone found out, so I kept my talents a secret. The only connections I'd ever felt to anything were those between myself and my machines, I couldn't loose that. I had built this room right under my parent's noses, expanding off a small broom cupboard down underground. I had hidden the entrance to the best of my abilities, which involved a self-sufficient holographic display. Not half bad, if I do say so myself. I retreated into the welcoming darkness, and soon I was surrounded by my creations. While the interior of my workshop might have seemed like a cluttered jumble of parts, machines, shelves, counters, and drawers it is, in fact, a case of ordered chaos. The ceiling was covered with wires and electronic devices that retrieve whatever parts I need. I jumped a little when a small silver robot lept out from behind a pile of spare parts and boxes to stand before me at attention, red eyes glowing brightly in the dim light of my workbench lamp.

"(r/n), reporting for duty." it said in a deep voice, slapping a snappy salute.

I laughed a little, even though he does this all the time I can't help but find it amusing. "Stand down (r/n), nothing's wrong."

At my words it's eyes turned a green color and it smiled at me, "I'm so glad you're home safe master." the bot jumped up and gave me a hug, "I thought I sensed an intruder in the house."

"You're correct there is someone new in the house, but they're not an intruder... Yet anyway." 

"Oh good!" it walked away to go play with one of the many toys I'd built while I moved to my workbench and began my tinkering. The original name for my robot's blueprint was the SIR (Special Interactive Renewal unit) but the sweet little thing had grown to be my one true friend over the years.

"Intruder!" yelled (r/n), jumping into the path of the green boy coming down the stairs.  
Zim jumped a bit and almost fell down the last few steps. 

Zim did a double take, "WHAT?! What trickery is this? How can you have obtained a SIR?"

As he spoke I screamed, scared and startled by the sudden appearance of another person in my workshop. "Why are you in here?!? Or better yet, HOW are you in here?!?"

(r/n) turned to me, red eyes glowing dangerously, "shall I dispose of this intruder, master?" at this Zim backed up a few steps, looking worried.

I took a deep breath, resigned to my fate "(r/n), stand down. Someone was bound to find out sooner or later." 

The robot's eyes remained red, but it moved to the side, "yes master."

"I ask again, how could a human obtain a SIR?" Zim asked slightly amazed.

"Oh, you mean (r/n)? I built him. Had him for years. He was one of my first creations." I smiled, blushing a little in embarrassment.

"Wait, you built a SIR?" He asked incredulously.

"Hold on, how do you know what a SIR is? I drew the blueprints." I replied. _Things are getting weirder and weirder by the second._ I thought to myself.

"A S.I.R, is a Standard issue Intelligence Retrival unit." he said, ego re-inflating, "A highly advanced piece of irken techn..." He trailed off as a sudden spike of pain struck my head. I squeaked, unable to scream, and fell, curled up on the floor in a tight ball, holding my head for dear life.

"Master?" (r/n) squeaked, eyes turning green again, "Master, are you ok?" He ran to my side, worried.

"What's wrong with you human?" Zim approached careful not to disturb the protective little robot. 

Unable to speak well through the pain, I gasped "(r/n)... Rejuv. core" the bot rose, sprinting through the rows of shelves before returning with a small-ish object. (r/n) proceeded to press it against my chest when it glowed a light blue color. After a few moments the light died and they both helped me sit. I was still a little dizzy, but I managed to stay up.

Turning to (r/n) I looked at him seriously, "There was more that time. An image, not a scrap."

"Here master." The robot pulled out a large piece of paper and a pencil. I began to sketch. I knew not what it was, all I knew was that it was important. As I worked a shape took form. It looked like a ship. But not just any ship

"You saw the massive?!" Zim gasped, "Not even I, Zim, the supreme one, could have forseen THIS!" He took a good look around the workshop for the first time and said, "What on Irk? All of this is Irken technology." 

I'll admit, he sounded a bit nuts at that point. "How? I've never been to this place you keep talking about! You see all this?" I gestured to our surroundings, "I built all this, on my own I might add!" 

Zim sighs, "this makes no sense!" He paced for a minute or so before perking up, "You! You said you saw 'more this time,' has this happened before?"

I hesitantly looked up into his eyes. What I saw there made up my mind. "Yes, only not as strong. Before I would get a small image, just broken pieces, a scrap of sound, a quick flash of color, those sorts of things. With each glimpse I would get a spark of pain. Recently though..." I trailed off a bit looking down at my hands, "recently they've been getting more intense. I'm getting words, phrases, whole images!" I waved the picture of the huge ship at him, "But with more information comes more pain." I rested my face in my hands, "I don't know what to do." 

Zim helped me to my feet and looked me dead in the eye, "We are going to figure this out," he let go, and put on his biggest grin, "Nothing will stop the amazing ZIM!"


	4. Chapter 4

After that I did something I thought I would never be able to do again, I cried. Yet, these were not the tears of sorrow, the ones I had shed so many of before. These were tears of joy.

Zim snapped out of his egotistical daydream and saw the tears rolling down my cheeks, "What's wrong with you now, human?" his voice was tinged with annoyance.

What he hadn't seen was the grin spreading across my face as he spoke. After a moment I pulled him into a hug and whispered a quiet, "Thank you."

When I didn't immediately let go he seemed to get the picture and –rather awkwardly– returned my 'human display of affection' as he would put it. It was enough for me. Eventually I let him go, still smiling. Then, realization dawned on him, "Human, that was water flowing from your face, correct?"

I looked at him, puzzled, "I would assume so, I'm human, that's what happens. Why?"

Zim grinned, "If that was water then why am I not burning?"

I figured out what he was trying to say and ran to one machine in particular. Zim followed me down the rows of machinery and parts, reveling in the immensity that had eluded him upon first entry.

Once he'd caught up I turned to him and said sternly, "turn around and don't look until I say so. Otherwise we'll have problems. Got it?" He nodded quickly and turned around as I pulled off me tear soaked shirt and placed it upon the machine I'd stopped in front of. "Computer, a clean shirt please." As I finished my request a neatly folded (f/c) t-shirt with an interesting tie-dyeish pattern on it fell into my hands. "Thank you." After putting it on I yelled, "you may turn around now Zim... You didn't peek, did you?" I asked menacingly.

He quickly shook his head and approaced at a slow, and careful pace. He was painfully aware that I could kill him with a word now that he'd entered my lair, if this was anything like his own.

I placed the shirt inside the machine, closed the door, and typed in a few numbers on the control pad by the door before hitting the green button to start the machine. It hummed a bit as it warmed up, then we watched the shirt float up a bit and the liquid from my tears drawn out of the fabric into a small container. The shirt was dropped and the container was pushed out onto a short platform via a side door. There was a ding sound before the machine powered down again. Zim looked puzzled.

"What? Don't you like it?"

"The machine is fine, it's just... Why did it make that sound when it was finished?"

At that I chuckled, "I don't know, it was a joke. Certain human contraptions make a sound when whatever they were cooking is done." I shrugged "I thought it was amusing."

Zim made a feeble attempt to mask the fact that he was annoyed he didn't understand something, "Bah! The great and mighty ZIIIIM, does not waste his time with simple earth jokes!"

I merely smiled and shook my head, "Yeah, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night buddy." With a sigh I took my shirt and held out the small vial containing the extracted tears, "You wanted this, right?"

He took it and grinned, "Yes... YES, now I, ZIM, have the key to unlocking this mystery! HAH!"

I chuckled, amused by his antics. I looked at the watch on my arm and hit a few buttons. Up came a holographic display showing the space right outside my door. Looking up I said, "It's stopped raining, we can go outside now." With that I tapped the watch again, shutting off the hologram, and began walking towards the exit. Zim followed, still looking around at everything.

As we reached the entrance I was once again ambushed by my loving robot (r/n), "Leaving so soon Master?"  
I hugged him laughing softly, "yeah, sorry I don't have time to play (r/n). I'll be back in a bit though, then we can play."  
He grinned and ran off, stopping by the bottom of the stairs and watching Zim warily. We ascended to the ground floor of the house to find that my mom had just returned from work. I stepped to the side and dragged Zim with me, keeping my head down and pushing his down in the same manner. She had an aura of power to her, the kind that says, 'get out of my way or I will squish you like the pitiful insect you are.' The woman took no notice of us and went directly to the office. After that I dragged him out the front door faster than he'd expected. He almost tripped on the threshold before I caught him, shutting the door quickly.

"What on IRK was that about human?!?" he asked, surprised, annoyed, and most of all puzzled. "This-"

"That was my mother! Ok?!?" I cut him off loudly. My head was bowed, and clenched fists rested at my sides. I was fuming with what may have looked like anger to Zim, but was, in truth, pain. As my voice quieted the anguish became more pronounced, "I'm not sure if I should even call her that." I managed to regain my composure after a few moments of silence.

"THAT was your parental unit? Wow."

"Just stay out of her way and you'll be safe, ignore my warning, and I cannot guaranty you will escape in one piece."

Zim blanched a bit at that, but before he could make any comments I grabbed the green boy by the wrist and dragged him away from the building, "Let's go, you still need to analyze those tears, correct?"

Zim nodded, then after a few minutes he asked, "How did you build all those machines on your own?"

I looked at him intrigued by, and somewhat grateful for his sudden topic shift, but shrugged and responded, "I'm a tinkerer, always have been. My father's a highly successful engineer, and my mother, the woman you saw a moment ago, is an executive federal agent. When I started I found that if I worked it just right I could get whatever parts I needed. Before I came up with the matter actualizer anyway. That's how it started." I sighed before continuing, "I would sit at my desk and start trying to put pieces together to see if they fit. These devices would almost put themselves together in my head, a screw here, a nitro-plate there, etc. I realized that this behavior was not normal from viewing the other children here. The only other person I know who isn't a complete imbecile is Dib. He's never liked me for some reason. Eventually I moved my work out of my room and into the place you saw. I've obviously expanded since then!" I chuckled a bit while he nodded.

"And you mentioned you see things in these visions sometimes, does that have any influence on the things that I, ZIM! Have witnessed?"

"You know, I never thought about it before, but I think you may be on to something. A number of times after it happened I would have an idea that I just couldn't get rid of until I figured it out, either on paper, or playing with the parts."  
At this point Zim heard a sound and his head swiveled in its direction just as my watch beeped. We watched as a dark figure in a trench coat saw he'd been caught and darted off down the street. I immediately lept into pursuit, followed closely by Zim. Inside we both knew who it was, though the hair helped. When the sneak realized he was under hot pursuit he quickened his pace. I felt the fury building within me. How DARE he spy on us! This is uncalled for! I felt myself screaming in my head. Riding the tidal wave of rage I managed to catch up to him. Once I got into range I lept and tackled him to the ground.

I lowered my face towards his ear and whispered dangerously, "I thought I had made myself very clear. You will leave us alone, or face my wrath."

With that I flipped him over and looked into his eyes. They were the same eyes I had always bored into... Almost. These were older, more experienced eyes. I looked down and examined this Dib's clothes to find that they were worn, dirty, and not at all what he would normally wear. It almost looked like a uniform.

"Who are you and what have you done with Dib?" I asked incredulously.

He looked at me and smirked, "I am Dib, but not yet as you know him."

That's when it hit me, "Time travel? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" I shook my head, "That's sad."

"B-but it's true!" he spluttered.

"Hah! Like I'd ever believe that load of crap!" I laughed, then sobered as I said, "If you really are Future Dib -which I highly doubt- then you know how I get when I'm pissed off." He nodded vigorously. "Good, then I hope I won't need to repeat myself." I helped him up and just as he got to his feet I punched him in the gut, "That was for spying on us just now. Bye" with that I gave him a little wave and started walking towards Zim who was finally catching up.

"What on Irk was THAT about!" he asked, somewhat annoyed that I let Dib go.

"I think I scared him enough. He was going on about how he was from the future. I'm not quite sure if I believe him, but there was something off about it." I looked up at the sky which was swiftly growing darker as the sun set, deep in thought, "I'm not sure if you'd understand it, but there was something wrong with his eyes. They were too... Old to be Dib's. And the clothes he was wearing didn't look right." I shrugged, "Oh well, another mystery I guess." As I spoke I began walking towards his house again. Zim decided to give up on the topic and follow. We spoke as we walked and eventually reached his house without further incident.

Just as he was about to enter his house he looked at me and said, "Would you like to see the lab of the great and mighty ZIM, before you go?"

I smiled and shook my head, pointing at the sky, "I need to get back to my place before it gets too late. Who knows what can happen on these streets in the dark? See ya Zim!" I waved, then started toward my house again.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you want to see the other chapters on here. This is, sort of, my little experiment to see what people think. I'm working on chapter seven now. If you want more, tell me and I'll post it.


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